Thursday, February 26, 2015

Contest: What tale do you have to tell?

 

 FKcontest

Last spring & summer, I had the honor of working with several wonderfully talented groups of authors, one of which was in the Somewhere South of Normal, Volume I, anthology. Serena, the brilliance behind creating False Key, invited us to introduce our characters to the sexy dangers of the island and put our own special twist on its sandy shores. Now, Serena & The Howl at the Moon are presenting you with the chance to set your characters loose on an island where the only thing that is predictable is its unpredictability. 

*****

Sponsored by Howl at the Moon Writers Jam.

Intrigued by the fantasy world of False Key? Want to get published? Win prizes?

Enter your best short story (1,500-8,000 words) and/or poem (up to 3 pages) set in the world of False Key, Florida.

Grand prize winner(s) will be published in an upcoming False Key anthology and receive $25 cash and their choice of a False Key mug or t-shirt. Second and third place winner(s) will be published online.

The setting should be the island of False Key or surrounding waters.

Story prompts to inspire you:


1. Account of a trip to False Key including a narrow escape. Or not.
2. The Howl at the Moon Writers Jam in False Key is having a short story contest. Meta!
3. Dive into the music scene of False Key
4. “My name is Sharkton, and I’m powerless over eating people.”
5. Choose your own theme.


Work must be original, unpublished, and in keeping with the spirit of island. Read Somewhere South of Normal for clues!

Submissions open Jan 5 and close Mar 19


Winners will be announced on April 16 at the Howl at the MoonWriters Jam in Stuart, Florida.

Winners will be published online. Grand prize winner(s) will be published in our 2015 False Key anthology.


Read the official contest rules and fine print here.


Sunday, February 22, 2015

Roundup: Racing, Writing, Random, & Contest Peek!






Well, I finally did the thing I dread doing: changing my blogger background from Christmas to something non-Christmas. I know, it's pathetic, but I hate seeing all the Christmas goodness disappear for another year. You should see me with the tree and decorations--most depressed self-professed elf EVER. 

On the plus side...RACING IS BACK! Yeehaw! I geaux ('geaux' is an LSU thing for those who haven't witnessed the circus sideshow that is me on Twitter during football season) kinda blah between the end of football & holidays until now, when NASCAR returns. Dale Jr. finished 3rd. Great race. Very glad Kyle Busch is safe after that horrific accident yesterday. Scary, scary thing to see. I felt so bad for his wife--she must have been absolutely terrified. Safer barriers should be everywhere. Just my less-than-two-cents opinion. 





The writing cave has been a busy place. Book 4 of The Merworld Waters Wars is coming along steadily. I'll be kicking it into high gear here soon. I'm still looking at a summer 2015 release date. And...we have a cover!!! It definitely sets the tone for the fourth book, especially since the story really leads to the fifth and final book in the series. I'm a crazy mix of excited, nervous, and sad to be so close to the end of this series. Oooh, can't even think about how finishing the last book will feel! Nope, can't think about that right now. No, no, no, just no.

Anyway...on top of that, I've been working like mad on my first New Adult Contemporary Romance/Suspense trilogy. There will be danger, love, deadly secrets, betrayal, and some, um, steamy-sexy grown-up fun. It's been really fun to write. I've had these characters nagging me for a looong time--kept notebooks in an attempt to keep them at bay while writing Merworld Water Wars, but they finally lost their patience and came bursting out of my brain. I'm not absolutely sure about a release date for the first book, but I'm aiming for the end of summer, maybe sooner.


Oh, and Mother Nature can take the cold away any dang time now. Seriously. Getting just a little tired of having to leave the faucets on a drip and shivering and brrr and blah! Elsa, I most definitely am not, despite 'Let It Go' being a theme song and my love of snow for the holidays. Pre-Christmas snow & Christmas snow...yeah, totally different from after-Christmas snow. This made a lot more sense in my head than it does now, staring back at me. :/ 

Lots of things coming up, including a big contest taking place in False Key...details coming this week!